Less Alcohol ~ FEBRUARY 2022 ~ One Day At A Time

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  • Lilylady3k
    Lilylady3k Posts: 3,962 Member
    February accountability: 2/28 days AF
    Alcohol: 13 days (23 drinks)
    Goal: Limit 1-2 glasses per day; 12-16 AF days per month. Aim to drink no more than 2 nights in a row.

    2/11 - 4 wine
    2/12 - 2 wine
    2/13 - AF Super Bowl
    2/14 - 1 wine
    2/15 - AF

    Getting my life back under control. Not worried about wine when it is only 1 bottle ... but when 2 are opened like Friday night I need to switch to something else.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Oh my word those photos are ADORABLE
  • tmbg1
    tmbg1 Posts: 1,427 Member
    Feb 1-2 - AF
    Feb 3-5 - stuck with 2 drink limit
    Feb 6-9 - AF
    Feb 10 - 12 - 2 drink limit
    Feb 13-15 AF
    Feb 16 - 2 drinks
  • JustDan_71
    JustDan_71 Posts: 8 Member
    @ahoy_m8 thank you for the encouragement and the birthday wish!
    @Womona & @MissMay thank you for welcoming me and your support! It helps to have people to confide in.
    I am still to figure out how these messages work on here so, I am sorry if I missed anyone.
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,720 Member
    Xellercin wrote: »
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    OMG LOVE THE BABY AND BIG SIS PHOTOS! Adorable!

    Catching up and , truly, best wishes to all who are coming back from health stuff - earaches, heart attacks, COVID... serious stuff. A good reminder to be kind to your one and only amazing body.

    @globalhiker , I am pondering the exact same things about the "reward" psychology. I kind of am of two minds. On the one hand, I think there is merit to the little voice that says one drink (or sweet treat) in an overall healthy diet/exercise regimen truly is ok if the goal is balance and enjoyment. No great harm if it truly brings a spec of enjoyment. On the other hand, the feeling of "deserving" or entitlement may not exactly be in harmony with enjoying a treat. But it might. Does feeling entitled to it lead to less enjoyment? I think for me that is the key as I look for ways to consume less WHILE enjoying more. I'm interested in others' thoughts on this.

    Been away a week. An old friend asked me to come help her deal with some estate issues in central Mexico on Friday, and I hopped on a plane Monday to give her a hand. Long story, but I couldn't imagine tackling what she is dealing with alone. She was really grateful. I'm back now and ready to get back to my routine. I generally don't log when traveling, especially foreign travel. It's just impossible to know and too difficult to guess. Plus we drank during the week. Maybe every day? Or at least close to that. I wasn't keeping track but it seemed like a glass of something here and there on weeknights which is not my usual mode. Nothing crazy but nothing I really enjoyed either. The "We deserve a glass of wine" thinking at the end of the day was in full force. I would benefit from a good think about that.

    The problem isn't the moderate consumption of "treats" the problem is compulsive, repetitive behaviours that you don't want to be continuing, but you do because you feel an intense urge/craving to do so.

    When that's the case, it's not a treat, it's giving in to an addiction.

    If you have compulsive cravings, giving in feels like a "treat" but it's actually a self destructive behavior.

    Something is a "treat" when it's just a nice-to-have add-on to your normal day-to-day routine. A pedicure might be a nice treat, or some flowers. But if you spent your day thinking about pedicures, constantly thinking "I need to cut back on pedicures," promising yourself "only X number of pedicures this month," but then giving in and getting more pedicures than you intended, feeling guilty when you get too many pedicures, and justifying it as a "treat"???

    Yeah, that's not a treat, that's a problem.

    It's not how much you use something that dictates that you have problems with it, it's how you feel about using it that really matters.

    If you're managing to limit yourself to only 1-2 drinks at a time, or only gambling $20, or only eating one cookie, or only doing a few lines of cocaine and only at parties, but you need to white knuckle the hell out of limiting it to that "acceptable" level, then you don't actually have a healthy relationship with the thing you are addicted to.

    At that point, it's not a treat because the whole dynamic isn't healthy.

    Freaking brilliant. The pedicure analogy really brought it home for me!!!!!!
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,814 Member
    @Womona

    What a fabulous excursion you are off to!
    I used to spend lots of time in Florida when I still lived in the East. My parents lived there for 15 years.
    I believe that Tom Petty is from Jacksonville...or maybe Gainesville.

    Have fun!
  • dawnbgethealthy
    dawnbgethealthy Posts: 7,814 Member
    I am in, with my usual goal: 16-20AF days per month. I had 18 last month.

    Diary Style is how I roll.

    Feb 13 - AF - Busy day Monday working out of town, so AF decision. Expecting to have drinks with my departing friend Monday and Tuesday, she leaves for good on Wednesday.
    Feb 14 - 2 drinks
    Feb 15 - AF - said goodbye to my friend on Monday night, she is enroute now to Calgary and flies out of there in the wee hours Thursday morning. Time to get back to a normal routine for myself and to rack up some AF days.
    Wednesday Feb 16 - AF - Felt like having a couple of drinks, but also am trying to get back into some sort of routine after so much packing and cleaning at my friend's over the last couple of weeks. It was nice to be at home watching the Olympics.

    Rolling total: 9AF days out of 16 days
  • luciebrucie
    luciebrucie Posts: 119 Member
    Managed another night AF
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    lmlmrn wrote: »
    Oh my @Lilylady3k The pictures are so cute I want to pinch some cheeks!

    Well it is now confirmed both DH and I tested positive for covid :|
    I started with a low fever and headache a few days ago, DH has been super fatigued and has a cough. So our symptoms are very mild. I have had colds that made me feel much worse.

    So AF, it really just lost it's appeal the last few days, even though I don't have much of a problem during the week any longer. 11/16 days dry.

    Now I have this 13lb turkey in my frig thawing out for the dinner party I WAS going to have on Saturday. So if I cooked it say Sunday or Monday then put it in the freezer until the following Saturday do you think it will be ok?

    A friend gave me a Lilly Pulitzer cookbook that I love. Evidently, she was constantly entertaining large groups of family & a steady stream of visitors. Anyhoo, she had an unconventional Thanksgiving approach that I have deployed twice with marvelous results.
    1) cook & carve turkey 2 weeks before event
    2) make stock with carcass
    3) place sliced turkey in aluminum pan, cover with stock & freeze
    4) defrost in fridge 24 hrs before event
    5) drain (and save!) defrosted stock and reheat in 350F oven with a little stock until steamy

    She says "Who wants to spend all day Thanksgiving carving turkeys?" She has to cook multiple turkeys for her crowd, but I do appreciate her point. It makes the turkey you serve so hot and moist, and it is such a breeze to serve, it's really hard to go back.

    Good luck! And I'm really sorry about COVID but glad it's mild for you.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    CDC guidance is to isolate 5 days after positive test without going into public THEN to mask 5 more days while in public. Is there any way to get delivery with Instacart or curbside pickup so you don't actually have to go in?
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    Womona wrote: »

    Freaking brilliant. The pedicure analogy really brought it home for me!!!!!!

    I do love a good analogy. When it comes to explaining human behaviour, I really don't think there's a better way to ensure that an idea is understood.

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